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This is a way of working made of ten principles that build upon each other. It is a way. A system. A whole. You can add to it, you can change it, but you must know why you are doing so. The quotes are all from the book The Collaboration Equation.
The Way of Working: These principles create a virtuous cycle where meaningful work enhances professional development, cognitive health, and organizational profitability. We want to create conditions where people do their best work with dignity, purpose, and genuine satisfaction.
The Modus Way of Working (v.1.0)
1. Be visible.
Action: Make Work Visible Before You Try to Fix / Do / Assign / Accept It
"We cannot manage what we cannot see."
Transform invisible fear-based overload into visible actionable reality through visual management systems. When work becomes visible, teams see where help is needed and how to support each other effectively
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2. Be In Control.
Limit Your Work-in-Progress to Restore Your Humanity
"The most toxic behavior is taking on more than we can reasonably complete."
When you see overload (Be Visible), you can saying "not right now" to preserve cognitive capacity. Address self-inflicted overload (martyr syndrome), leadership chaos (conflicting priorities), and broken systems that create unnecessary work.
3. Be Honest.
Create Psychological Safety Through Shared Visual Systems
"Every real collaboration has psychological safety."
Visual and controlled work provides the foundation for psychological safety by reduces politics that make honesty dangerous. When everyone sees what's happening and where problems exist, speaking up becomes safe and productive.
4. Be You
Build Your Personal True North to Navigate Overload
"Your True North is essential navigation equipment when life gets harder."
Define your core values, behavioral boundaries, and quality standards. Create decision filters for opportunities and competing demands when everything feels urgent. Be you.
5. Be a Team
Design Right Environments Where Teams Define Their Own Culture
"Culture is how your team knows they're providing value."
Co-create environments where professionals have what they need to act with confidence. Culture emerges from explicit conversations about planning, communication, and working relationships. Be a team.
6. Be Professional
Practice Humane Management Through the Seven Elements
"We need functioning human beings, and those people are usually mistreated."
When you visualize work, remember The Seven elements of any visualization: direction (planning), state (what's happening), triggers (actions to take), narrative (learning), culture (relationships), identity (purpose), and PDSA (improvement). Complete systems that respect people and create value. Be professional.
7. Be Effective
Embrace Collaboration Over Competition and Rigid Dogma
"Transparent communication and collaboration over rigid dogma."
Seeing work as it happens always shows us where we should be communicating better and evolving. Foster Creative tension with professional respect. Build systems where diverse perspectives enhance performance through structured conversations and shared problem-solving. Be effective.
8. Be Aware
Create Constancy of Purpose That Connects Daily Work to Mission
"People want their work to matter."
Ensure every professional understands how their work contributes to something larger and how they relate to their team members. Use visual systems and regular conversations to connect daily tasks to organizational mission and impact. Be aware.
9. Be Healthy
Build Antitoxic Systems That Prevent Rather Than React
"Toxicity is expression of individual and collective weakness."
Solve problems immediately and together. Address root causes: information starvation, decision bottlenecks, unclear roles. Build systems that contain and redirect toxic patterns through visual management, clear protocols, and continuous improvement. Be healthy.
10. Be a Leader
Act with Confidence Through Real Time Shared Professional Development
"Leadership is a verb that any team member can express."
Enable professionals to have the information, authority, and support needed for good decisions. Good decisions are everyone’s job. Visual systems give people the information they need to act with confidence. Invest in collaborative capabilities and systems thinking at every level. Be a leader.
CALL TO ACTION: If this is interesting to you, you can hire me and Toni to help (just message me on substack or linkedin), or take a class at Modus Institute, or simply get a paid subscription to Humane Work here on substack (see above).
This is what we do and have done for decades, and what we work with others on. Simple, visual, humane strategies to fix the real problems of work.
